Still hope for a bold transportation bill this session!

By Dave Van Hattum, Senior Policy Advocate

Taking action: This week at the Capitol, supporters called on legislators to fund transportation now.

In a surprise move a week ago, freshman senator Melisa Franzen offered an amendment on the Senate floor to the Omnibus Transportation Funding bill to provide new funding for roads and transit. That amendment passed and, soon after, the entire bill was adopted.  HF 1444 (previously SF 1173) includes a phased-in half-cent increase in the metro area sales tax for transit, and a phased-in increase of 5 cents in the state gas tax. The amended bill also includes a small percentage for bicycle and pedestrian connections, and increases transit funding for Greater Minnesota, meeting 70 percent of the need. Together, these investments will put Minnesota’s transportation system on the right path for the future. The question now is whether these elements make it into law this session.

TLC and the Transit for a Stronger Economy coalition have advocated all session for a funding bill that will greatly expand transit, and safe, accessible bicycling and walking connections. This past Wednesday, the coalition gathered outside the Governor’s office and marched to Speaker Thissen’s office. The walls of the Capitol echoed with voices calling, “Transportation Now!”       

This week, the Minnesota House and Senate have been conferencing the bold Senate bill with a “lights on” House Transportation funding bill that offers no increase in funding, but rather keeps status quo transportation budgets in place.  The Conference Committee is comprised of the following legislators.

Senate	House
Dibble	Hornstein
Champion	Bernardy
Carlson	Beard
Jensen	Erhardt
Kent	Sundin

There is still hope that end-of-session negotiations will get the job done on transportation. One possibility is that the half-cent sales tax will be packaged with $300 million in trunk highway bonds and as yet unnamed additional funding for roads. Another funding effort is a House bonding bill, championed by Rep. Alice Hausman, with funding for Southwest light rail and other key transit projects. 

All session, Governor Dayton has remained committed to his budget proposal, which includes a half-cent increase in the metro sales tax to significantly expand the metro area transit system. Let’s thank the Governor (click here or call 651-201-3400) and inspire him and legislative leaders to get the job done in the final few days.

The Transit for a Stronger Economy coalition will remain engaged in legislative action right up to the final bell—in this case, Monday, May 20.  We encourage other transit, bicycling, and walking advocates to do the same, and to keep the pressure on your elected officials through the weekend!  

Take action: send a quick message to your state legislators right now.

Photo Credit: Val Escher

Connecting the Dots: Transportation and Health

By Teresa Roark, TLC Intern, Graduate Student at U of M School of Public Health

 

Throughout this legislative session, Transit for Livable Communities has been facilitating the Transit for a Stronger Economy coalition. Our coalition’s name emphasizes the positive economic impact of increased transit, but the benefits of public transportation are broad. Not surprisingly, the list of Transit for a Stronger Economy’s 52 member organizations is equally broad, representing a variety of sectors, including public health. Earlier this spring, coalition partner Rachel Callanan, Regional Vice President of Advocacy for the American Heart Association and Chair of the Minnesotans for Healthy Kids coalition testified in favor of increased funding for transit, bicycle, and pedestrian improvements. In her testimony, Callanan made a strong connection between transportation and health. As she emphasized, greater investments in transit and active transportation options are likely to have positive health implications for Minnesotans, while also saving our state money in health care costs.

Lack of physical activity is associated with a number of chronic diseases, including heart disease, stroke, and obesity. The Surgeon General recommends that adults get at least 30 minutes of daily physical activity. Almost half of American adults do not meet this recommendation. But as  Callanan noted, “Increased access to public transportation may provide more opportunities for physical activity as most transit trips begin and end with walking.” In fact, Callanan said, “Public transit users spend an average of 19 minutes daily walking to and from transit. . . . This modest amount is significant enough that it could reduce the obesity epidemic and its related health costs.”

Improved physical health is not just important for individuals who currently don’t exercise. We will all benefit from lower health care costs. Callanan shared research conducted by the American Heart Association that predicts that the “healthcare costs from obesity alone could exceed $861 billion by 2013, which would account for at least 16 percent of U.S. health expenditures.” By acting now and increasing funding for transit, bicycling, and walking, we can prevent this astronomical increase in health care costs. 

Transit, bicycling, and walking are good for Minnesota’s economy, but these transportation options are also good for our health. As the diversity of our coalition members reminds us, the potential benefits we will see when the legislature passes a comprehensive transportation funding bill are many—hopefully too many for elected officials to ignore. 

Streetcars in the City

By Dave Van Hattum, Senior Policy Advocate, and Teresa Roark, TLC Intern

Energy around a streetcar revival has been steadily building in the Twin Cities—and with good reason. The modern streetcar is far more than an ode to the dominant transportation mode preceding today’s ubiquitous car culture. Streetcars provide a valuable transit option uniquely suited to dense urban settings and with strong opportunities for new commercial and residential development. But are streetcars likely to make a major comeback here in Minnesota?

Streetcars (referred to as trolleys outside North America) have been part of the U.S. transit system since the late 19^th century. By the 1920s, they were commonplace, even spawning the term “streetcar suburb” for their notable influence on development patterns and commuting habits.

As local authors John Diers and Aaron Isaacs describe in Twin Cities by Trolley, many older Minnesotans fondly recall riding the 520-mile streetcar network that once stretched from Stillwater to Lake Minnetonka, with dense grids of track serving Minneapolis and Saint Paul.

 

Passengers boarding a streetcar at Hennepin Ave. & 9^th St. in Minneapolis, part of the extensive network that once served the Twin Cities metro area.

After declining in the 1940s and 50s for a variety of reasons, including growing suburban development and the emergence of rubber tired buses, streetcars are reappearing in more and more cities across the country—not only as a way of moving people from one place to another, but as part of a comprehensive development plan.

Peer Cities Embrace Modern Streetcars

Today, modern streetcars operate in Charlotte, NC, Portland, OR, and the Seattle-Tacoma metro area.. New streetcar service will launch in Dallas and Washington, DC, later this year, and is under construction or procurement in Atlanta, Cincinnati, and Salt Lake City. Historic streetcars still operate in Boston, Memphis, New Orleans (replica), Philadelphia, and San Francisco.

  
Passengers about to board a modern streetcar in Portland, OR.

These streetcars operate in urban cores and make frequent stops. They are smaller and less expensive than light rail vehicles, but larger and more expensive than buses. Popular models can accommodate 41 seated passengers and 100 standing passengers. They can either operate with autos on existing streets or, like LRT, on their own rights of way.

STREETCARS
Key Differences from Light Rail Transit (LRT)	Key Differences from Buses
Less capacity (see graphic below)	More capacity (see graphic below)
Can operate in mixed traffic	Higher visibility
Shorter routes, more frequent stops	Often spurs more development
Less construction Impact	Electric powered
Less expensive $30 to $60 million/mile vs. $100 million/mile for LRT	More expensive $30 to $60 million/mile vs. $5 million/mile for arterial BRT

*Sources for cost estimates: Streetcars 101, City of Saint Paul website; LRT based on cost of Hiawatha, Central, and Southwest LRT cost, Metro Transit Arterial BRT Study.

 

Credit: City of Minneapolis

Streetcars, with their high visibility and fixed routes, encourage economic development and mixed-use land development. For example, since streetcar service began in 1996 in the historic South End of Charlotte, NC, property values have increased from $20 million to $360 million. The streetcar is now considered “the spine of the district.”

Portland, OR, first began operating Central City Streetcar in 2001. Since then, there has been $3.5 billion in development within two blocks of this streetcar line (over 50 percent of total downtown development). Much of this development has been mixed residential and commercial, with residential properties averaging just 0.6 parking spaces per unit. Not long after opening a streetcar line, Portland birthed United Streetcar, the only manufacturer of modern streetcars in the U.S.

It is easy to see why many American cities are choosing to invest in streetcars, but will the Twin Cities join them?

Studies are underway to evaluate streetcar feasibility and determine the best routes for streetcars in both Minneapolis and Saint Paul.

In Minneapolis, an Alternatives Analysis (AA) has narrowed the most feasible routes to a single starter line. From downtown, the line would travel south on Nicollet Ave. to Lake St. and northeast on East Hennepin and Central Ave. We imagine this starter line will have strong potential for future development and would attract visitors and downtown workers to a wide variety of restaurants, shops, and other attractions. The AA will also examine a longer route—from 46^th St. South to 41^st St. North—that may follow a successful starter line.

Other promising routes include a streetcar along the Midtown Greenway connecting the Hiawatha LRT and the future Southwest LRT (a project being studied by Metro Transit) and a streetcar along West Broadway serving North Minneapolis. Particularly given that the proposed Bottineau LRT route skirts North Minneapolis, a new streetcar on West Broadway could bring welcome reinvestment potential to that area of the city along with more frequent transit service.  

These potential streetcar routes and many others are simultaneously being assessed as possible rapid bus corridors.

Saint Paul is also studying streetcars. By the end of 2013 when the City’s streetcar feasibility study concludes, it will have identified one to two priority corridors for implementation. Over a dozen corridors are currently being examined, including Snelling Ave., Payne Ave., Lexington Pkwy., West 7^th/East 7^th St., Rice St., Ford Pkwy., Robert St., Grand Ave., and several others. Evaluation criteria include ridership potential, development potential, and transit-supportive land uses.

Streetcar Funding

Both Saint Paul and Minneapolis still need to identify a funding source for any future streetcar lines. Streetcars are not currently identified in the Metropolitan Council’s Transportation Policy Plan, nor eligible for funding through the Counties Transit Improvement Board (1/4-cent metro area sales tax for transit), or by Metro Transit, which has had very limited resources to increase bus service over the past decade.

Given the potential of streetcars, however, a variety of new funding sources are being explored. These include: 1) allowing streetcar construction and operation as one use of an increase in the metro area sales tax (HF 1444), 2) value capture legislation (HF 617), which would allow Minneapolis to secure a portion of capital costs by borrowing against future property tax increases in locations served by a streetcar, and 3) federal funding from the Federal Transit Administration’s Small Starts program.

Want to get involved and learn more? Weigh in on bringing streetcars back to Saint Paul. Stay informed about ongoing Minneapolis streetcar planning efforts and upcoming opportunities to participate: Nicollet-Central or Midtown Corridor.

Find more on Portland’s streetcar system and development-oriented transit here.

 

Breaking: Senate Passes Increased Funding for Transit, Bike/Ped, Roads

Update: Bill passes 35-27! Update (8pm): Senate passed amendment but is still debating the transportation finance bill.

Late this afternoon on the Senate floor, Senator Melisa Franzen (DFL) District 49, introduced an amendment to the transportation finance bill to phase in increases in both the metro area sales tax for transit and the gas tax. The amendment passed, dramatically reviving hopes for action this session on behalf of transportation needs statewide.

The amendment includes funding for transit (bus and rail), bicycling and walking projects, and road and bridge projects statewide. The bill, now through the Senate, if enacted would increase the regional sales tax for transit in all seven metro counties by 1/4 cent sales tax now, with 1/4 cent next biennium. The bill would also raise the gas tax by 2.5 cents now and 2.5 cent gas tax next biennium. The bill also increases funding for Greater Minnesota transit and safe routes to school.

All eyes turn next to the House-Senate conference committee.

 

Update from the Capitol: Senate Introduces a Bill that’s Good for Transit, Bicyclists, and Pedestrians

By Dave Van Hattum, Senior Policy Advocate 

 

Supporters of comprehensive transportation funding filled the Capitol Rotunda at a lively rally Wednesday morning.

 

Comprehensive transit /transportation funding bills are still alive in the Minnesota Senate and House. The metro area transit funding package that TLC has advocated includes substantial new funding for buses, rail and bicycle and walking options. There have been numerous ups and downs (as is typical for a major bill). A Senate bill being voted on today, however, gives us renewed hope. See more detail below.

Transit advocates appreciate Governor Dayton’s leadership. His proposed budget  includes a ½ cent increase in the metro area sales tax for transit. There is consensus by Capitol experts, however, that this plan will only be passed by the House and Senate if it is combined with significant new funding for roads and bridges. The logic for this is that Minnesota legislators have always addressed transportation as a statewide issue. Greater Minnesota legislators are more likely to vote for a package that addresses road, bridge, and transit needs in their districts.  

Moving separately in the House is a capital investment bill championed by Representative Hausman that includes significant bonding for public transit, Safe Routes to School, local roads, bridges, and trails. The Senate has yet to take up a bonding bill this session, so the path for adoption is still unclear.

 

Minneapolis Mayor R. T. Rybak with supporters at today’s rally for transportation funding.

 

Transit advocates are joining with proponents of funding for roads and bridges, working hard at the Capitol, reaching legislators through phone banks, and hosting a Rally at the Capitol today.

All these efforts reflect the strong support for major transportation investments this session. We believe the Governor and legislative leaders (speaker Thissen in the House, and Majority Leader Bakk in the Senate) should pass into law a balanced transportation bill that addresses the statewide need for transit, roads, bridges, and bicycle and pedestrian connections.

 

In her remarks at today’s rally, transit advocate and North Minneapolis resident Kenya McKnight emphasized that all communities need transit options, safe roads, and bicycling and walking connections.

 

The bill supported by TLC and the Transit for a Stronger Economy coalition earlier this session included increased transit funding as well as substantial new dedicated funding for bicycle and pedestrian improvements in the metro area. We’re happy to report that these elements remain in place in both the Senate transportation bill (which will be heard Wednesday evening in committee) and in a House bill that is working its way through various committees.

 

  

The resounding message at the Capitol today: transportation is essential for a stronger economy, transportation bills are jobs bills.

 

Senate Transportation Bill includes the following:

Transit/bike/walk

•          ½-cent increase in the metro area sales tax for transit (buses and trains), which will rapidly accelerate the build out a 21-st century transit system.

•          Dedicated funding for bicycle and pedestrian improvements, and planning studies for streetcars.

•          $10 million additional funding per year for Greater Minnesota transit.

Roads/bridges

•          A tax at the distributor level on fuel (this exists already in more than a dozen other states) combined with a reduction of the gas tax.

 

 

After the rally, TLC and Transit for a Stronger Economy coalition partners headed to Governor Dayton’s office to deliver hundreds of postcards and messages supporting increased funding for transit and safe, accessible bicycling and walking.

 

The message is clear: we need a comprehensive transportation bill and the Senate has a good plan. The Senate bill will be heard in committees over the next week. We are hopeful that the House will take up a similar bill. Please help us keep the pressure to pass a strong and balanced bill this session (take action here). It’s essential for a stronger economy for all Minnesotans.

 

Crash Facts

Report: Motor vehicle crashes that involve a bicyclist or pedestrian represent 3 percent of all crashes, but 12 percent of fatalities.

By Barb Thoman, Executive Director

Every year, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety releases a report about death and injuries on Minnesota’s roads. The 100-plus page report, with the title Minnesota Motor Vehicle Crash Facts, contains information and statistics about crashes—who is involved (car, motorcycle, pedestrian), the likely causes, when and where they occur, etc. I’m always surprised that the annual release of this report isn’t more widely covered in the media.

TLC took a look at the most recent report and summarized the information about bicycle and pedestrian crashes in a new policy brief. The latest report, Crash Facts 2011, found that motor vehicle crashes that involve a bicyclist or pedestrian were 3 percent of all crashes, but 12 percent of fatalities. Over the last 10 years, an average of 40 pedestrians and 8 bicyclists died on Minnesota’s roads annually.

 

TLC’s policy brief also addressed information on bicycle crashes that occur, but are not included in Crash Facts. Because of federal reporting protocol, bicycle crashes that occur on public roads but do not involve a motor vehicle are not included. A separate database maintained by the Minnesota Department of Health showed that five times as many people were injured in a bicycle crash as were reported in the 2011 Crash Facts. One of the people injured was my husband, who fell after hitting a rock in a bike lane in Saint Paul. He had surgery to repair several bones in his hand.

Despite ongoing safety concerns and growing rates of bicycling and walking, bike and pedestrian safety has long been underfunded. The new federal transportation law, MAP-21, increases funding for traffic safety. TLC hopes that the state’s new traffic safety plan, which will be developed in 2013, will increase attention and funding for programs and projects that improve safety for bicyclists and pedestrians. Bicycling and walking are good for public heath, the environment, and community livability. The safer it is to walk and bicycle, the more people will participate.

To learn more, including the leading causes of bicycle and pedestrian crashes, read our brief on Crash Facts here.

Read the full Crash Facts report here. 

 

Taking Transit to Home, Work, and . . . the Park?

By Linden Weiswerda, The Trust for Public Land (guest blogger)

Editor’s Note: Our Twin Cities metro region is well known as a place where cityscape meets green space. Millions visit our robust regional park system each year. But did you know that most arrive by car? Some efforts are already underway to connect more residents and visitors to Twin Cities parks in other ways. For example, the Sierra Club North Star Chapter regularly leads outings to parks and natural areas via transit. Nice Ride MN bike sharing will begin serving expand service to Mississippi River Park and Recreation Area this summer. And next year, new bus service on Lexington Parkway will improve access to Saint Paul’s Como Park–one of our most visited regional parks. As our region’s population grows and the regional park system expands, will current transportation options ensure the parks are accessible to all? Here, guest blogger Linden Weiswerda with The Trust for Public Land makes the case for continuing to improve transit service to our regional parks.  

 

 
Minnehaha Regional Park, Minneapolis

 

Have you ever ridden a bus or light rail train to your nearest regional park? Chances are high that your answer is no. According to the last Regional Parks and Trails Survey (2008), less than 1 percent of people arrive at Twin Cities regional parks and trails via public transit. While the Minneapolis-Saint Paul region is filled with a diverse array of popular regional amenities that can be reached by multiple modes of transportation, our regional parks largely remain an untapped destination for the regional transit system.

The Twin Cities regional park system—which includes sites from the Chain of Lakes Park in Minneapolis to Big Marine Park Reserve in Washington County, and 49 other parks and park reserves—is an invaluable asset that helps keep our region thriving and acts as “the state parks of the metro area” (Metropolitan Council). As the largest and most natural public lands in our metro area, the regional parks provide a unique experience for visitors. In addition to protecting the most important and sensitive natural areas in the Twin Cities for current and future generations, they are central to creating healthy and enjoyable communities. And enjoy them we do, with over 44 million visits annually to the regional park system. Time after time, surveys cite that parks are one of the top reasons people find the Twin Cities region attractive and want to move here.

 

Crosby Farm Regional Park, Saint Paul

 

However, the 2008 Regional Parks Survey also found that almost 60 percent of visitors to the parks arrive by “auto, truck, RV, or van.” Meanwhile, as Transportation for America reports, 40 percent of Minnesotans are without a driver’s license, exceeding the national average of 32 percent. If large numbers of residents in the region cannot get to the regional parks and trails to enjoy them except by car, how can this significant segment of our population benefit from the regional parks? Combine this with decreasing rates of car ownership, particularly among younger and older demographic groups, and the regional park system could actually become less accessible over time—unless our region does more to improve transit service to these destinations.

The current Twin Cities transit system provides limited means for travelling to regional parks, in part because peak service times are tied to the typical work commute. Transit services run most frequently during rush hours on weekdays. However, park use generally peaks for special events, in the evenings, and mostly on weekends.

 

 

Baker Park Reserve, Three Rivers Park District

 

Livable communities are active seven days a week and throughout the day as well. For comparison, think about a movie theater and office building that share a parking lot. During the week office employees fill the lot, and in the evenings and on weekends moviegoers take the same spaces. As a result of this shared use, the parking area needed to meet demand has a reduced development footprint, smaller amounts of pavement and stormwater runoff, and generally has created a more efficient community that is utilized more of the time. Increasing connections among the regional transit and regional parks and trails systems could similarly benefit both systems, picking up more transit riders in off-peak times and making regional parks more accessible to more people at more times.

In building an efficient transit system, one with more housing options and other development near stops and stations and with higher rider capacity, we should also be sure that our transit system connects as many regional attractions as possible, perhaps by both siting new parks near transit lines and by extending bus service to parks in current off-peak travel times. Our regional park system is also growing: current plans are to add more than 15,000 park acres and 700 miles of trails by 2030. By taking advantage of that growth, we can ensure that people can ride the bus or train, bike, or drive to their choice of regional parks.

If you’d like to explore a fun tool for seeing which regional parks (or other regional amenities) you can reach via transit in a certain amount of time, check out Mapnificent. Mapnificent is an online tool (still in an early phase of development) that shows you the area you can reach via public transportation from any point in a given amount of time. (A sample map for regional park destinations is pictured below).

 

 
Mapnificent generated this map of regional parks (red) that can be reached by transit from downtown Saint Paul (orange) in 30 minutes or less. (Note: Mapnificent does not work in Internet Explorer, but will work with other major web browsers.)

 

For a map to all the regional parks and a list of the activities available, visit the Regional Parks page of the Metropolitan Council, which links to the local park agencies who manage the regional parks and trails as well as their local park systems.

 

All featured images provided courtesy of The Trust for Public Land.

 

Find a Way!

Transit for Livable Communities is calling on legislators and the Governor to find a way to get a strong transportation bill passed this session. This week comprehensive transportation bills are moving through House and Senate committees. Transportation laws are usually statewide. In the metro, we have an historic opportunity to build out the regional transit system (bus and rail, bicycling and safe, accessible walking) in fifteen years, not whenever. We know this has statewide impact, but also that there are transportation needs in the metro and greater Minnesota for roads, bridges, and transit. There are corridors of commerce, safety and congestion issues, and farmers who need to get to market on bridges in good repair.

So we are saying to the legislature—find a way to get this done. This session!

This region needs an additional ½-cent for transit in the metro to get residents to work affordably and on time. This state needs to address critical infrastructure needs. If we don’t act this session, we send a signal to everyone that Minnesota is sitting on its hands, ready to watch other regions get ahead of us, have our children move there to work and raise families, have corporations decide this state isn’t serious.

Just as with education reform, we’re looking at the toddler today and saying we need a transit system that reaches across the metro by the time that child is ready to go to college. It’s about affordability, it’s about attracting and retaining jobs, it’s about access to jobs (in the core and in the suburbs), it’s about seniors aging in place. We also know it’s about creating healthy, livable communities—with less pollution and more active lifestyles.

Statewide, we need to address key corridors of commerce and ensure safety of our roads and bridges. We also have a huge unmet need for transit across the state.

We all depend on our infrastructure every day to get us where we’re going. The legislature needs to act this session to make sure we have funding for all our transportation needs. This is not a time to sit back and wait.

What can you do?

1)      Help us pack the Rotunda for a Transportation Rally at the Capitol. Wednesday, April 17, 10:00-11:00 am. Stay longer if you can to meet with your legislator. Info / RSVP here.

2)      Visit http://www.transit4mn.org/p/get-involved.html for links to use to call your legislator. Make sure your elected representatives know you support increased revenue for transit, roads and bridges this session.

Met Council/TAB Propose 58 New Transportation Projects for Funding

By Dave Van Hattum, Senior Policy Advocate

The Metropolitan Council recently took public comment on an amendment to add 58 transportation projects totaling $159 million in federal funding to its project list known as the “TIP.” These projects were selected by the Met Council’s Transportation Advisory Board (TAB) in 2012. The applications were first submitted back in 2011.

Here is a sample of four of 58 projects being funded—one from each of the four categories and the amount of federal funding to be awarded:

• $6 $7 million widening of TH116 in Anoka County from two lanes to four lanes in the cities of Andover and Ham Lake (Surface Transportation Program category)
• $1 million for an extension of the Point Douglas Regional Trail in Washington County (Transportation Enhancement category)
• $6.4 million for improved bus service on Snelling Avenue in Saint Paul (Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Category)
• $1.6 million for replacement of a Hennepin County bridge on TH46 over Godfrey Parkway in Minneapolis (Bridge Improvement and Replacement Category)

Click here for the full list of projects by category.

As a fairly new member of the Transportation Advisory Board, let me attempt to decode how this process works.

Every couple of years, the Twin Cities region decides how to spend a good chunk of federal transportation funds—approximately $160 million to $180 million. The Twin Cities Transportation Advisory Board (TAB) is tasked with running a process to make these funding decisions. TAB, an extension of the Metropolitan Council, is comprised of 33 members including elected officials.

The federal funding allocated by TAB is a relatively small amount compared to larger sums of state and federal transportation funding that MnDOT, and to a lesser extent, the Met Council and regional transit agencies, allocate. However, the variety of transportation projects that can be funded with this money is less constrained (i.e. no state constitutional limits restricting funds for “highway purposes only”), and could have a greater amount of public input.

The Transportation Advisory Board (with assistance from a Technical Advisory Committee) creates funding categories and develops detailed scoring criteria to select what it believes is the best slate of projects proposed by local units of government and other public agencies. The Regional Solicitation process gives all cities and counties in the region an opportunity to submit projects for TAB’s consideration.

When approved, the Metropolitan Council will add this new roster of 58 projects to its running list—the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) document. These projects are planned for implementation over the next few years. The TIP includes a listing of all road, bridge, transit, and non-motorized projects in the region funded with federal money.

Advocates should take note that local decision-making about how to spend much of this federal money has great flexibility, particularly in the category called the Surface Transportation Program (STP).

Unfortunately, the TIP amendment is the end of a lengthy project selection process and, as such, is not the best opportunity to shape outcomes. So where does the greatest opportunity for public impact lie?

The key shapers of outcomes are: 1) how the regional solicitation is designed, 2) the TAB policies that put certain projects in certain categories, and 3) the scoring criteria and selection of projects by the TAB/Met Council.

Given recent changes in federal law, the Met Council has recognized the need to re-assess, from the ground up, the categories, selection process, and scoring criteria for this flexible federal funding. The Council is also developing a new long-range regional plan (Thrive MSP), which will inform the Council’s Transportation Policy Plan, which then informs how money, including this federal funding, gets spent.

Bottom line: As we’ve reported previously, how Twin Cities residents get around is changing greatly, with less car travel and far more transit, bicycling, and walking (partly made possible by more compact, mixed-use development and improving transportation options). The biggest opportunity for change will come in the future when there is an opportunity to influence the criteria and policies that drive the type of projects that can be submitted and how they are scored. Stay tuned for future communications about opportunities to help shape how our region grows and how it invests federal, state, and local resources.

 

The Trend of Less Driving Continues

By Barb Thoman, Executive Director

New data from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) show the average American drove 9,360 miles in 2012—44 fewer miles than they drove in 2011. More surprising is that the peak in miles driven per person (aka vehicle miles traveled, VMT) occurred back in 2004, when Americans, on average, drove 10,118 miles. Driving per person is down 7.5 percent over the last 8 years. This persistent decrease in driving is occurring as transit ridership, bicycling, and walking are all increasing (e.g. The American Public Transit Public Association just announced a record 10.5 billion rides on US public transit in 2012; the 2012 Bike Walk Twin Cities Count Report shows that in the Twin Cities over the last 6 years bicycling is up by 51 percent and walking by 24 percent).

Looking at this trend in a different way, the FHWA also reports total miles driven in the US rose slightly in 2012, but the percentage of the increase was less than the increase in population for the year. Total miles driven in the US peaked at 3 trillion in 2006 and 2007, and hasn’t hit the 3-trillion-per-year mark again since.  

A recent article from the State Smart Transportation Initiative at the University of Wisconsin Madison offers some reasons for this decline:

A variety of factors have been cited for the decline, including retiring Baby Boomers; less enthusiasm for cars among Millennials; a move in many places toward more compact and mixed-use development; and demand-side policy efforts, including TDM [travel demand management], tolling, and market-pricing of parking. In addition, some trends that fueled VMT growth in the last century have eased: The transition toward women working outside the home is essentially complete, car-ownership has gone from rare to common, and people’s time budgets for car travel may have reached their maximum.

As we await the release of Minnesota’s own 2012 numbers this May or June, what might the national decline in driving tell us about the future?

It’s good for the air, public health, and community livability. 

This decline in driving should give us pause about adding to the size of our state highway system. Minnesota already has a large road network (the 5^th largest road system in the US, and 8^th largest regional highway system in the US), and in the future we could have trouble maintaining a highway system that doesn’t align with driving trends.

Our state should also consider and respond to the preferences of residents as we make investments. A recent statewide poll found widespread agreement among Minnesotans that transit is a good investment for the state, and also that building more roads will not solve traffic congestion alone.

We hope these changing travel patterns will mean a greater focus on investment in transit service and repair of the roadway system we have. The trends also reinforce the goal of retrofitting more of our roadway networks as complete streets—safer for people who are choosing different ways to get around.

For more on driving trends in Minnesota see information from MnDOT here (PDF).

 Updated 4-19-13.